Regional Business Reports

Statewide
State Fair Marks 150 Years of Fun
There are 31 days in October, but some longtime North Carolinians contend that only about a third of them really matter — those when busloads and carpools of young and old descend upon Raleigh for the State Fair. This year’s version, scheduled for Oct. 17-26, recognizes the first State Fair that was staged in 1853 and is being touted as “150 years of Blue Ribbon Fun.”

Along with plenty of rides, contests, exhibits and food galore, an improved concert lineup will bring a mix of country, rock, contemporary Christian and comedy stars to Dorton Arena. The concert series kicks off on Friday the 17th with energetic country trio Trick Pony and ends on Sunday the 26th with award-winning country superstar Brad Paisley. Among the entertainers in between is folk singer Mike Cross, who got his show business start while a student at UNC-Chapel Hill

Reserved seat tickets are $5, and limited free seating will be available for every concert. On the day of the show, fairgoers can pick up free tickets at noon in the ticket booth located on the north lawn of Dorton Arena. Most concerts begin at 7:30 p.m. Daily admission to the fair is $6 for ages 13 to 64. Ages 6 to 12 get in for $2, while seniors and children under 6 are admitted free. Fairground gates will be open daily from 8 a.m. to midnight. Exhibit halls will be open from 9 a.m. to 9:45 p.m., while the midway will operate from 10 a.m. to midnight. For more information, call 919-733-4216 or visit www.ncstatefair.org.

Elsewhere this month:
The Carolina Hurricanes open their fourth season at the RBC Center in Raleigh against the defending Stanley Cup champion New Jersey Devils on Oct. 11, one of four home games in the month. Info: 919-834-4000. 

A Civil War Lantern Tour on Oct. 18 from 7 to 10 p.m. at the Charlotte Museum of History takes you back to one of the most memorable periods in U.S. history. Reservations are required and space is limited. Info: 704-568 –1774.

“Boo at the Zoo” features games, a costume contest, clowns, jugglers and magicians at the N.C. Zoological Park in Asheboro on Oct. 25-26. Info: 800-488-0444.  — Kevin Brafford



Greensboro
Historic Train depot Reopens After 10-Year Renovation
An old Greensboro transportation center is back in business. The Depot, which was built in 1927 for the Southern Railway, has been renovated into a bustling bus and train station downtown on East Washington Street. City bus services began operating in the new location in August. “The Depot will be North Carolina’s crown jewel of historic stations — housing all modes of transportation in one location to make traveling easier and seamless,” says Lyndo Tippett, state transportation secretary. “Renovating and modernizing these kinds of stations is conducive to improved economic development and a higher quality of life.”

The completed first phase of the $19.2 million project included renovating the Depot and nearby Railway Express Agency. The upper level of the Depot serves as the new home for the Greensboro Transit Authority city bus service and regional transit service. The REA building houses Greyhound and Trailways intercity buses. The second phase of the project, with a price tag of $11.6 million, is scheduled to be finished early in 2005.  It includes boarding platforms, a new baggage tunnel, reconstruction of the pedestrian tunnel and track improvements in anticipation of Amtrak resuming service at the station.

The neo-Georgian style structure was at its peak in the 1940s with more than 40 passenger training coming through each day. The Southern Railway donated the station to the city in 1979. The new and improved hub has been in the planning stages for 10 years and is part of a concentrated effort to improve the downtown area. “We’ve been working for the past 10 years to renovate the Depot,” says Keith Holliday, the mayor of Greensboro. “The facility . . . serves as a critical and exciting component of downtown revitalization efforts.” -- Jim Buice



Statewide
Census Count Confirms State's Swelling Population
Latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows what anyone who spends time daily in traffic gridlock already knows: that North Carolina’s population continues to swell. From 1995 to 2000 about 338,000 more people moved to North Carolina from other states than moved out, giving our state the nation’s fourth-highest “net in-migration” rate, behind Nevada, Arizona and Georgia. Further, the flow of residents between New York and North Carolina was among the largest between any two states. More than 100,000 New Yorkers moved to North Carolina in the late 1990s, while only 20,000 people moved the other way.

The numbers detail that North Carolina was the ninth-fastest-growing state during the 1990s; as of July 2002, the state had 8.3 million residents, the Census Bureau says. The migration numbers, which are estimates from the 2000 Census, don’t include immigration from outside the country or population growth from births recorded within the state. Foreign immigration also swelled North Carolina’s population. In 1990, 2 percent of the state’s residents were born outside the country; by 2000, more than 5 percent were foreign-born. Since 2000, the Census Bureau estimates that North Carolina has drawn more people from other countries than from other states. The state’s overall population growth has slowed to about 1.5 percent a year but remains higher than the national average.

It’s no surprise that North Carolina remains a magnet for retirees. More than 50,000 people age 65 and older moved to the state in the latter half of the 1990s, helping give us the sixth-highest net in-migration rate for people in that age group. While more than 919,000 people moved to North Carolina from other states in the late 1990s, about 581,000 established permanent residence elsewhere. South Carolina and Virginia drew the largest numbers of departing residents, but new arrivals from those states made up for the loss. -- Kevin Brafford



Asheboro
Lipton Soup Plant Plans Second Major Expansion
The Randolph County Economic Development Corp.’s success last year in luring a company to Asheboro from Illinois continues to pay dividends. Unilever Bestfoods, which produces Lipton brand soup products, has announced plans to expand for the second time in a year. The company has announced a $2.5 million expansion and will add 25 to 30 more jobs to produce a new product. This comes after an earlier $8 million upgrade with 60 new jobs. Hiring was to begin in September with production of the product, which company officials have yet to reveal, to get under way in the fourth quarter.

Bonnie Renfro, president of the Randolph County EDC, welcomes the good news. She says Unilever selected the Asheboro facility as a key supply chain site in 2002 for three primary reasons: “the ability to achieve world-class status, the quality of the workforce and targeted incentives from local and state government.” The city and county chipped in $250,000 in the first expansion, but no local incentives were part of the second expansion. The company moved some extra product production to the Asheboro facility last year after closing a plant in Montgomery, Ill.

“The company exceeded their initial project targets for job growth and investment and now are continuing to expand adding another product line,” Renfro says. “They are a destination employer in our community and an outstanding corporate citizen that gives back to the community far more than received in economic incentives. Through the support of our elected officials and the dedication of the Unilever team, we’ll add 100 new high-quality manufacturing jobs at a time when we need them badly. First to last, this project has been a win-win for the company and the community.” — Jim Buice



Charlotte
Duke Makes Progress on Power Plant Project
Duke Power has completed the first phase of its massive Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) at Belews Creek Steam Station that it says will reduce the Stokes County power plant’s nitrogen oxide emissions by approximately 85 percent.  Company officials say the project will be completed in 2004 and is the largest of its kind in the nation. It represents an investment of more than $450 million and had a peak construction work force of more than 2,000. It is considered one of the largest construction projects in North Carolina during the past decade.     

“The Duke Power team is very pleased to bring Belews Creek Unit 1 back on line with the new SCR systems fully operational,” says Bill Hall, Duke Power’s executive vice president of fossil/hydro generation. “Belews Creek is one of the nation’s most efficient coal-fueled power plants.”  The SCR project consists of two 30-story steel structures located next to the plant’s two units. These structures contain honeycombed ceramic equipment that will change nitrogen oxide emissions into harmless nitrogen and water. The process is similar to that used in automotive catalytic converters to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions.

What makes the Belews Creek project unique, Hall notes, is its sheer size and engineering challenges, which have ranged from how to supply on-site parking for the massive workforce to the design and construction of customized structural reinforcements that ensure the 30-story SCR structure can manage the effects of wind. 

The SCR project began in August 2001 and has generated thousands of construction jobs. It also required the service of the nation’s largest crane that previously was stationed at the World Trade Center immediately following the 9-11 attack. The Belews Creek SCR project is part of Duke Power’s federal Clean Air Act compliance efforts that will reduce the company’s nitrogen oxide emissions 75 percent below 1998 levels by summer 2004. Duke Power will invest an additional $1.5 billion to reduce nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide emissions far below federal limits by 2013 to comply with North Carolina’s clean air plan. -- Kevin Brafford


Greensboro
Slimmer Burlington Industries Emerging from Bankruptcy
Wilbur Ross, regarded nationwide as the “Bankruptcy King,” has prevailed in buying Burlington Industries, the Greensboro-based textile giant, for $614 million. The court-approved sale to Ross awaits final creditor approval and an OK from a federal bankruptcy judge. Barring any setbacks, Ross hopes to complete the deal later this month, bringing Burlington out of bankruptcy as a private company. Along with the purchase of Burlington, Ross also reached contract terms with Mohawk Industries to sell the company’s Lees carpet division.

“Lees will benefit from Mohawk’s financial strength and business synergies,” Ross says. “Burlington’s other operations also will be deleveraged and as privately owned businesses will function more effectively and responsively to meet the needs of their customers. Employees will no longer have to worry about the financial viability of their company.”

Ross emerged as a key player in Burlington’s bankruptcy process earlier this year after Warren Buffett, one of the nation’s most famous investors, withdrew a $579 million bid in February after a judge rejected a $14 million break-up fee that would have made it difficult for other investors to acquire the company. That set in motion a bidding battle that concluded late this summer with Ross prevailing. “We are pleased that the bidding process is coming to a conclusion, and we believe it will enable us to maximize the value of our company and produce the best results for our customers, employees, suppliers and creditors,” says George W. Henderson, Burlington’s chairman and CEO.

Ross was given the “Bankruptcy King” tag by Fortune magazine after restructuring more than $200 billion worth of corporate debt and being an adviser on eight of the 25 largest U.S. public bankruptcies, including Eastern Airlines and Texaco.  — Jim Buice


Charlotte
Center Expands to Help Family-Owned Businesses
An organization dedicated to assisting family-owned and other closely held businesses with all of their unique issues and challenges is now offering its services to Charlotte-area businesses. The Wake Forest MBA Family Business Center-Charlotte Metro offers programs and other resources for members to manage critical issues, such as succession planning, transfer of ownership, conflict management, development of boards of advisers/directors, intergenerational matters, family vs. nonfamily employees, communication and teamwork strategies for successful growth and many other issues. The center was established by the Angell Center for Entrepreneurship at Wake Forest University’s Babcock Graduate School of Management.

“Although most businesses are family owned, only about one-third make it to the second generation,” explains Tom Ogburn, director of the Family Business Center. “The reason is that closely held and family firms are not only confronted by the same difficult challenges all businesses face, but because of their unique structure, they must manage complex and intimate family relationships and navigate the dynamics of a closely knit management structure. We established the Family Business Center to help guide them successfully through these issues.”

The Center’s sister organization, the Family Business Center of the Triad, was established in 1999. Demand for its services resulted in membership in that center more than doubling last year; today there are now 63 family business members in the Triad.

The Family Business Center is one of the organizations of the Angell Center for Entrepreneurship that contributed to national recognition and honors. The U.S. Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship named the Angell Center as the 2003 National Model MBA Program. The Angell Center also made the nation’s top tier of entrepreneurship programs and was ranked No. 1 by entrepreneurship faculty in Entrepreneur magazine’s inaugural list of the nation’s top entrepreneurship programs that was released in April.   — Kevin P. Cox




Fayetteville
EPA Praises Clean Up of Brownfield for Museum
Fayetteville has been recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for a project that involved site cleanup and construction of the Airborne & Special Operations Museum, a facility that anchors new development in the city’s revitalized downtown. The EPA Brownfields initiative is designed to promote collaboration among states and community partners for the cleanup of “brownfield” sites (areas with actual or perceived contamination that have the potential for reuse) and redevelopment of these sites. Success stories singled out by the EPA are projects that have been successful both in cleaning up the site and in the contribution made by the redeveloped area to the community. 

Highlighting the Fayetteville success-story project on its web site, the EPA writes: “As part of a comprehensive redevelopment vision, the City of Fayetteville has worked with its citizens, as well as with state and federal partners, to leverage millions toward revitalizing the area while at the same time paying tribute to the military.” The city’s efforts included the assessment of idle downtown areas for contamination, with the help of a $200,000 grant awarded by the EPA.

Partners involved in the Fayetteville clean-up project included the City of Fayetteville and the Fayetteville Public Works Commission, the Airborne & Special Operations Museum Foundation and Cumberland County. Contributions for building the $22.5 million museum were also received from thousands of private citizens, businesses, military associations, the General Assembly, N.C. Department of Transportation, Cumberland County and Congress.

The Fayetteville downtown project has been lauded for its creativity and forward thinking. In addition to restoring a site to a condition safe for building, the city turned an area of abandoned gas stations and car lots into a spectacular 59,000-square-foot museum. “The Airborne & Special Operations Museum project is just one part of Fayetteville’s comprehensive redevelopment plan that will provide a foundation for growth and development throughout the city,” states the EPA article.  — Rosimar Melendez


Wilmington
Firm Celebrates Anniversary Through Community Service
Wilmington-based McKim & Creed is on the giving rather than the receiving end of “gifts” as it celebrates its 25th anniversary. Employees from the firm’s 10 offices in North Carolina, Florida and Virginia have selected at least one local event in which to participate. Among the events that McKim & Creed employees in North Carolina have participated in include the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life in Wilmington; the March of Dimes WalkAmerica in Greenville; and the Clean Stream project in Charlotte.

“Our goal has been to give something back to the communities that have supported us as a company,” says CEO Michael W. Creed. Adds Executive Vice President Herbert P. McKim Jr.: “We wouldn’t have been in business for 25 years if it weren’t for the support of the communities in which we have offices. We thought this was the most appropriate way to celebrate our anniversary.”

The firm donated $25,000 to the University of North Carolina at Wilmington to become a title sponsor of a documentary that focuses on water scarcity. The film is expected to air on public television this fall. In addition to the film, there will be an educational web site featuring curriculum material and activities for high school students and educators, and the university will sponsor statewide forums to discuss potential solutions to water scarcity. “One of the primary focal points of McKim & Creed’s business is helping communities meet their water and wastewater needs,” says McKim. “This project gives us the opportunity to continue doing that through a quality educational venue.”

McKim and Creed, who met while studying structural engineering at N.C. State University, established their company in 1978. The two like to tell the story of sharing one telephone between them and “praying for it to ring.” 

Today, McKim & Creed employs 245 and operates offices in Cary, Charlotte, New Bern, Bolivia and Smithfield, plus Daytona Beach, Clearwater and Sarasota, Fla., and Virginia Beach, Va. -- Kevin Brafford

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